Pages

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Lesson # 11 Teaching Linear Perspective in Drawing & Watercolor

In lesson #10 we made shadows in watercolor by choosing one color and adding its compliment to make it darker. And then we softened edges (see that lesson for review). Our subject was a figure from my imagination. Above is a little chart to show you basic body proportions of the human figure at different ages of maturity. Notice that a baby’s head is ¼ the size of it’s body. And a full-grown adult male’s head is 1/8 the size of his body. Notice where their waists and elbows are. Of course, some people have larger or smaller heads, longer or shorter legs or arms etc. but these are approximate averages. It helps to know this when you draw.

Have you heard of the word perspective? It’s a word that describes seeing things in distance. First of all we know that things look large when they are close and small when they are far away. These circles might all be the same size… like a car you see coming way down the road that looks bigger the closer it gets!

Or they may each be smaller than the one before it!

I have drawn some circles with lines that overlap each other. Then I have erased some of the lines to make the small circle appear far away and the big circle to appear closer. But…the small circle may be just as big as the large one but you can’t tell because it is far away…like a car coming closer.

And here I have erased different lines to make the small circle close and the large circle far away.

Now it’s your turn to have fun drawing some circles like this. Erase some lines to make some circles close and some behind. Make the smallest be in back all the way to the largest in front. Then make the largest in back all the way to the smallest in front.

An lastly, here are some pictures to practice drawing from a grid (see my previous post on drawing from a grid).

Next week we will combine what we learned today about perspective with what we learned last week about shading in watercolor.

In lesson #10 we made shadows in watercolor by choosing one color and adding its compliment to make it darker. And then we softened edges (see that lesson for review). Our subject was a figure from my imagination. Above is a little chart to show you basic body proportions of the human figure at different ages of maturity. Notice that a baby’s head is ¼ the size of it’s body. And a full-grown adult male’s head is 1/8 the size of his body. Notice where their waists and elbows are. Of course, some people have larger or smaller heads, longer or shorter legs or arms etc. but these are approximate averages. It helps to know this when you draw.

Have you heard of the word perspective? It’s a word that describes seeing things in distance. First of all we know that things look large when they are close and small when they are far away. These circles might all be the same size… like a car you see coming way down the road that looks bigger the closer it gets!

Or they may each be smaller than the one before it!

I have drawn some circles with lines that overlap each other. Then I have erased some of the lines to make the small circle appear far away and the big circle to appear closer. But…the small circle may be just as big as the large one but you can’t tell because it is far away…like a car coming closer.

And here I have erased different lines to make the small circle close and the large circle far away.

Now it’s your turn to have fun drawing some circles like this. Erase some lines to make some circles close and some behind. Make the smallest be in back all the way to the largest in front. Then make the largest in back all the way to the smallest in front.

An lastly, here are some pictures to practice drawing from a grid (see my previous post on drawing from a grid).

Next week we will combine what we learned today about perspective with what we learned last week about shading in watercolor.